Zerg Rush Easter egg and other great time wasters from Google

Google’s Zerg Rush is a gift to all of us who believe that not every minute spent at work should be used in productive pursuits.

If you have a few minutes to spare, try typing the words “zerg rush” into Google from the search engine’s homepage.

Then wait and watch as a hungry pack of Os start to devour all the words on the search result page.

But this isn’t just a sit back and watch Google treat -- this is an interactive game. Google has given you the power to destroy the Os by clicking furiously on them with your mouse.

Your efforts will eventually prove futile, however. There are infinite numbers of Os and you can only click so fast.

The game is over when the Os destroy the words in the left-hand rail of the Google search results page. When you lose, all the Os will gather together to create two Gs -- Good Game.

Google is nothing if not a good sport.

So what’s the story behind the game? A Google spokesperson emailed us the following statement:

“For n00bs who aren’t as familiar with real-time strategy games, there’s been a zerg rush on your search results page. Because there should always be time to practice your gaming skills, click on the zerg units to defend the results page and try not to get pwned. Then you can share you APM score onGoogle+. GLHF!”

For those who need help understanding that--a “n00b” is a person who is new to a game and doesn’t know what they are doing, “pwned” means getting dominated by an opponent and “GLHF” means Good Luck Have Fun.

As for why this game is called Zerg Rush, n00bs might like to know that Zergs are an alien race of insect-like creatures from the game StarCraft that can mass-produce offensive units in a very short time -- overpowering their opponents by virtue of their numbers.

This is not the first time that Google has provided the working people of the world a tantalizing time waster.

Back in December, people who typed the words “Let It Snow” into Google watched tiny snow flakes fall on the screen, which subsequently fogged up -- just like a car window in a snow flurry. You could trace shapes and words with your mouse, or click the “defrost” button to clear the screen. Unfortunately, that one is no longer working.

But you can still play a virtual online guitar and record your musical experiments through Google’s Les Paul Guitar doodle, which has become a stand-alone page.

And the totally playable Pac-Man doodle is also still online for some good old fashioned gaming fun.

If you don’t want to be tempted by more time wasters, consider treating yourself to just one Google joke. For example, if you type the word “recursion” into the search engine, Google will ask you if you meant “recursion.”

Get it?

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